A young Dustin Hoffman driving hundreds of miles – to the musical accompaniment of a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack – in a red convertible: If you’re among the millions of people who watched the 1967 motion picture “The Graduate”, you’re likely to remember the scene. It was an early case of successful product placement and the car in question an Alfa Romeo Spider “Duetto”, which had come out the year before. And was there to stay: With only minor changes, the roadster remained in production for nearly three decades, making it one of the best-known convertibles of all times. The Alfa Romeo Spider of the 1st generation (1966-1969) featured an elongated round tail section. For the series 2 (1969-1982) this was effectively cut off, giving the “fastback” Spider its typical appearance. The Series 3 (1982-1990) can be distinguished by their rather voluminous front and rear bumpers, which gave these cars their nickname, “rubber lip”. The final 4th generation (1990-1993) did away with the under-bumper and trunk-lid spoilers in favour of a more classical appearance. 124,104 Spiders are said to have been built altogether. In Germany, the Spider tops the list of classic cars in the “imports” category.